Swalwell Clashes With CNN Hosts Over Claims of Russian Collusion

Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell (Calif.) clashed with CNN hosts John Berman and Poppy Harlow on Monday over claims that the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government.

The conversation began when Harlow asked Swalwell to lay out the unclassified evidence showing collusion during the 2016 election. The House Intelligence Committee member responded by bringing up Trump associate Carter Page's interactions with Russian diplomats.

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Berman interrupted to point out Page's actions were "questionable activity" and Harlow agreed they were "bad optics," but both argued they were not evidence of collusion.

After being pushed on Carter Page, Swalwell shifted his focus to Trump's former campaign manager, Paul Manafort. Harlow again challenged the California congressman for evidence of collusion, saying Manafort received money from Russia over a decade before he chaired the Trump campaign and that he vehemently denies pushing for the removal of pro-Ukrainian language from the Republican platform.

"Do you think Manafort is a credible witness?" Swalwell responded.

"I'm absolutely not the one to judge, but John's point–I mean, you need to answer his question. You made these claims. You made these claims of collusion. Where's the evidence?" Harlow asked.

"So, Roger Stone," Swalwell said, shifting his focus to another Trump ally. "Roger Stone intimates to the world that John Podesta is about to spend his time in the barrel. That is weeks before John Podesta's emails are put out by Guccifer 2.0, and then we see conversations that Roger Stone was having with Guccifer 2.0. So, you know, these are not just mere coincidences. This is a convergence. And then there is a whole classified side of information that I hope the world sees very soon. "

Berman finished by focusing on the classified information Swalwell mentioned.

"Have you seen things on the classified side that you cannot tell us about, though, that is even stronger evidence than what is out there publicly?" he asked.